Time to observe the tides and float into one other take a look at the most recent difficulty of Vodari Voyages. This time, we’re Challenge quantity 4, with the theme of Naval Fight. The Seas of Vodari marketing campaign setting guide did a wonderful job of changing ship statistics into the format launched in Ghosts of Saltmarsh. Which WotC promptly ignored any time they revisited automobiles, most notably within the Spelljammer launch.
Naval fight could also be a type of subsystems that has been tackled again and again throughout the lifespan of D&D. AD&D 2nd version had totally different naval fight guidelines within the Dungeon Grasp’s Information sequence, DMGR 9 Of Ships and Sea, in addition to guidelines within the Forgotten Realms product Pirates of the Fallen Stars, and within the Birthright setting in Havens of the Nice Bay. That’s all along with the car fight guidelines within the Spelljammer boxed set.
Generally it’s simply one thing easy like giving automobiles the identical stats as PCs or monsters, full with armor class and hit factors, which is the path fifth version went earlier than it started to separate automobiles into totally different sections with their very own armor class and hit level totals. Ghosts of Saltmarsh offers automobiles capacity scores, quite a lot of actions the ship can take, and what actions the ship can use with the actions it will probably take.
Now that we’ve taken a really fast and abbreviated tour of the present state of the naval sport, let’s roll into this difficulty with a little bit extra depth.
Disclaimer
I’m working from my very own copy of Vodari Voyages, which I obtained from my subscription to the Vodari Voyages Patreon. I’ve not used the foundations included on this difficulty, however I’ve run and performed D&D 5e fairly a bit, together with utilizing the car guidelines that have been expanded in Ghosts of Saltmarsh.
Vodari Voyages Challenge Quantity 4: Naval Fight
Designer: Shawn Ellsworth
Enhancing: Brandes Stoddard
Graphic Design: Dave Jumaquio
Art work: Mariam Trejo
Navigating the Doc
The PDF for Vodari Voyages Challenge 4 is 14 pages lengthy. There are additionally some extras you will get, which embrace tokens for the ships introduced on this doc, in addition to a giant, gridded map of open sea, so you possibly can add these to your VTT of alternative, do you have to so select. The doc is break up up into these sections:
- Naval Fight
- Shipboard Roles
- Ship Stat Blocks
- Ship Upgrades
The Guidelines of the Sea
Core D&D 5e is fairly sparse on car guidelines. You’ve got a car with an armor class and hit factors, and when you do one thing to get the car to go someplace or do one thing, somebody with the appropriate car proficiency could make a test with proficiency to see how properly the car responds.
In Ghosts of Saltmarsh, as talked about above, ships had extra of a creature stat block, and it additionally rolls initiative and takes its flip when it comes up. There are some ship roles included, which give the captain, first mate, and bosun further actions, Take Purpose and Full Velocity Forward.
Now, if you wish to run car, or particularly ship primarily based, fight within the 2024 guidelines . . . there isn’t actually something printed but. In truth, the 2024 guidelines don’t reference car proficiencies in any respect, and don’t embrace any car statistics. This might change with the DMG, however for now, automobiles guidelines are in limbo, minus a default software that existed earlier than to painting proficiency.
What’s New
This difficulty is rolling again among the granularity of auto fight from Ghosts of Saltmarsh and mirrored within the Seas of Vodari marketing campaign setting. Whereas the foundations pull again a little bit from the Ghosts of Saltmarsh paradigm, it nonetheless retains the final idea of a car having a stat block just like a creature. Meaning it nonetheless has capacity scores, armor class, and hit factors. In truth, let’s take a look at what we’re monitoring on automobiles from these guidelines:
- Measurement–these sizes correspond to creature sizes, that means most importantly massive ships are Gargantuan
- Armor Class
- Hit Factors
- Crew–you don’t need this to drop under 50%, and ship weapons have minimal crews
- Cargo
- Velocity–expressed in the identical scale as common characters
- Capacity Scores–Int, Wis, and Cha by default being 0
- Harm Threshold–the injury the ship subtracts from injury carried out when the ship is hit
- Harm Immunities–the usual stuff you would count on from an object
- Situation Immunities–see above
- Ship Actions–most ship actions are assaults, and we’ll discuss that in a second
The ship’s initiative is at all times 0, nonetheless, the participant characters can use their actions to set off the ship’s actions. That signifies that the cannon isn’t going to fireside until a participant character offers the order, they usually need to have sufficient crew obtainable to run the weapon or ship element. The comparability made within the textual content is that when PCs are on the ship, the ship capabilities like a mount, that means that it doesn’t have its personal actions whereas the PCs are directing it.
There’s a sidebar explaining how you can deal with proficiency checks to pilot the ship if you’re utilizing the 2024 guidelines. In contrast to commonplace fight, dealing with does matter, primarily as a result of your ship can spin round quick sufficient to shoot all of its cannons at an opponent, so you must know what’s dealing with your opponent.
What’s it You Would Say That You Do Right here?
The variety of roles has been expanded, as have the actions that participant characters can use that work together with the ship. The roles included on this embrace:
- Captain
- Quartermaster
- Crusing Grasp
- Boatswain
- Chaplain
- Prepare dinner
- Gunner
- Lookout
- Mage
- Musician
- Surgeon
Most of those roles get a persistent capacity, in addition to skills they work as soon as per quick relaxation, or in some instances, as soon as per lengthy relaxation. Captains get a lift to initiative, they will grant somebody on the crew an additional partial transfer and an motion, or they will enhance ship actions taken. The quartermaster can bolster allies or try and impose the frightened situation. The Crusing Grasp can take evasive maneuvers making the ship more durable to hit or give the ship a fast burst of pace. The Boatswain cobble collectively additional ship defenses or makes emergency repairs. The chaplain has a restricted capacity to heal the ship itself, even when it’s not usually a sound goal, and you may manipulate chance. The prepare dinner could make foods and drinks that grants quite a lot of additional advantages. The gunner can enhance the injury of ship’s weapons and might use extra exact assaults. The lookout will increase your vary for what you possibly can understand and have a extra dependable Notion test. Mage’s get higher vary for spells and might use the ship as their focus. The musician can grant sure actions as a bonus motion, and let folks reroll cube beneath a sure set of circumstances. The surgeon will get a restricted capacity to convey characters making loss of life saves again to 1 hit level, in addition to a restricted therapeutic perform exterior of spellcasting.
Participant characters acquire the choice to make use of the next new actions whereas on the ship:
- Board–when you find yourself shut to a different ship, you possibly can transfer to a different ship and impose penalties to that ship when you are there
- Hoist Flag–you possibly can try intimidate or dissuade one other ship, primarily based in your Charisma test (modified by an applicable ability) and the flag you resolve to fly
- Restore–do some minor patching up of the ship
- Scan–discover out details about the opposing ship
- Ship Motion–set off one of many actions detailed beneath the ship’s stat block
They’re Extra Like Tips
There are a variety of non-obligatory guidelines included on this doc as properly, together with guidelines that tackle the next conditions:
- Facet Initiative by Ship–every ship rolls initiative, and its crew goes on its flip
- Broadsides–hearth an identical weapons as a bunch with common injury
- Working Aground–taking injury when the ship bottoms out on one thing
- Concentrating on Smaller Targets with Ship Motion Weapons–how onerous is it to shoot the halfling ship’s wizard on the opposing ship, with the ship’s cannon
- Concentrating on Ship Elements–splitting out injury to elements
Cross-Part
Not each ship introduced within the Seas of Vodari marketing campaign setting guide are transformed to this new paradigm, however just a few are, together with the Brigantine, Eleven Warship, the Galleon, the Ironclad, and the Sloop.
There are a variety of ship upgrades included. A few of these are modified from the Seas of Vodari, and a few are new choices.
Shifting Hull, Vessel of the Mists, Spectral Sails, Windchaser Sails, Arcane Cannons, Thunderstone Mangonel, Basilisk Figurehead, Mimic Figurehead, Skeleton Figurehead, Moonglow Lanterns, Ghost-Lantern, and Hidden Compartments are all reworked from Seas of Vodari.
A few of these are nearly the identical, however have had their prices adjusted, from a average change to a big drop in value. In lots of instances, these have additionally been reworded to handle the way in which the 2024 guidelines count on guidelines to be expressed.
Remaining Ideas
With out getting too particular, I’ve seen different third social gathering car guidelines that I used to be much less enamored of, as a result of they fully reinvent the wheel. I’m very joyful that these guidelines construct on the core sport slightly than making a subsystem that fights towards it or ignores it. I like having the PCs being answerable for the ship taking its actions, as a result of it reinforces that they’re a part of the crew, not simply adventurer’s standing off to the aspect of the crew.
I used to be a fan of getting elements separated out, as a result of it facilitated techniques like blowing out your opponent’s sails. That mentioned, I can perceive dialing again among the specialised components of the ship to make fight easier, and I like that it’s solely a half-step again, sustaining the extra “creature model” stat block for the ship. I actually like particular person roles that PCs can assume, and I like that there’s a mechanic for characters shifting roles, holding the sport from slowing down in comparison with simply permitting gamers to shift roles every flip. Considering again to after I was reviewing the Pirates of the Aetherial Expanse journey sequence, you possibly can recruit folks in numerous places which have specialties in varied ship roles, and I like that you may hold that construction whereas utilizing these roles, and probably enable NPCs with these assigned roles to take a seat apart from the crew and take ship actions just like the PCs. I say this primarily as a result of I can see smaller events, with three gamers, for instance, having a more durable time totally using their ship’s choices.
There are just a few fuzzy areas that both I didn’t totally perceive, or that I really feel could possibly be a little bit extra outlined:
- The ship is in comparison with a mount, however we don’t have a default variety of actions the ship can take, if the PCs all find yourself boarding one other ship or incapacitated, so the ship can take actions like an unmounted horse would possibly
- The Concentrating on Ship Elements non-obligatory rule is mainly simply saying, separate out hit factors just like the Seas of Vodari setting guide does, however how does that work with the adjusted hit factors for the ships, and is there perhaps a components for what share you need to allocate to totally different elements?
- A few of the ship’s roles present some helpful abilities, particularly for a staff of adventurers that don’t have the usual bases lined, however some roles both give extra of one thing just like somebody taking that function of sure lessons, or encroach a bit on their area of interest–this could possibly be wonderful if you wish to release characters to step away from their standard roles, but it surely’s one thing to think about
- The Broadsides non-obligatory rule feels prefer it’s nearly a needed commonplace rule–the Galleon has 15 weapons per aspect, that means if the PCs are the one ones that may set off the cannons being fired, they’ll be actually quick on commonplace firepower for his or her ship kind
I’m occupied with taking these car guidelines for a spin, and my PCs could also be crusing someplace quickly, which can give me an opportunity to take action. The difficulty mentions that there shall be extra ships and elements being transformed in future points, and I’m wanting ahead to this.
